Justice 4 Oscar Grant?

When I saw the video of rioters in downtown Oakland, upset with the verdict in the Oscar Grant trial, looting a Foot Locker, it made me wonder if they purposely decided to assemble in that specific location for the reading of the verdict, because they needed some new Nikes. Was Foot Locker anywhere near where the trial was held, or where Oscar Grant was killed, for that matter?

Come to find out, the trial wasn’t even held in Oakland. It was held in Los Angeles. The judge moved it there, because he was concerned that the Oscar Grant killing has become a contentious race issue in Oakland. Johannes Mehserle might not be able to get a fair trial. God forbid. How and why he chose Los Angeles is beyond me. Lest we forget, Los Angeles is where Officer Nigger Hater and Officer Keep Darky Down were acquitted in the Rodney King beating, because they convinced they judge that if you look at the tape backwards, it shows them helping Rodney King up and sending him on his way.

Did it have to be somewhere else in California? I always wonder about these trials where a black man got fucked the fuck up by 5-0, and the jury found the cop not guilty, or just barely guilty, and come to find out it was an all white jury, just like the band Murph was in before he was in Dinosaur Jr. I’d have to check with TPAR to see if there’s any legal basis for this, or if it’s at all possible, but if I were a lawyer in one of these trials, I’d insist on having two separate trials – one with the usual bullshit jury you find in these trials, and one with a jury consisting entirely of black people, with maybe one random Mexican or white person, just to keep things interesting. If the black jury comes up with a different verdict than the white jury, that would of course mean that the white jury might be racist.

If the judge can just up and decide to move a trial somewhere else, thus influencing the outcome, I don’t see why this would be so unreasonable. It says in the Constitution (I’m assuming) that you have a right to a trial by a jury of your peers. Black people live in this country, too, right? It’s too bad Johnny Cochran isn’t still alive. I suspect he would have been all over this.

This is definitely one of those cases I could see going either way, depending on who’s “the decider,” as George W. Bush might put it. From a black man’s perspective, the fact that Johannes Mehserle tried to claim he was reaching for his taser and he accidentally grabbed his gun lets me know that he felt as if he could get away with pretty much anything, because he was a cop, and therefore to convict of a bullshit crime like involuntary manslaughter would only serve to prove him right, and hence would be a miscarriage of justice. Why was he even reaching for his taser, if he already had the guy down on the ground? That’s like a rapist trying to argue that he was merely attempting to show a woman his peen, and he slipped in some wet grass and it went inside of her.

I watched the video again just now. It’s not like Oscar Grant and Johannes Mehserle were wrestling, and Mehserle went for his taser, as a sort of finishing move (because obviously there’s no such thing as the Boston Crab in Germany, or wherever he’s from), but he grabbed the wrong one. There were like four other cops holding Oscar Grant down. All Mehserle did was kinda stand there and shoot him. He had plenty of time to realize what he was shooting him with? And what about the cops who held Oscar Grant down. You can’t just hold somebody down while somebody else shoots them. 2Pac went to prison for holding a woman down while his weed carriers made sweet, passionate love to her.

I guess they could argue that they had no idea his dumb ass would shoot the poor bastard. Taser him for no apparent reason, sure, but people don’t (always) die from tasering. But 2Pac could have made the same argument. How did he know his weed carriers were gonna rape that girl? Maybe all they wanted to do was jerk off and drop loads on her cans and face. You can have sex with any ol’ woman, but surprisingly, many women don’t like the idea of the money shot. Er, that’s what they claim.

All I’m saying is that, as is the case with rap music, there might be levels of nuance here that white people aren’t capable of understanding. The jury in this case may not have reached the best decision.

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Anonymous

first?

http://www.glowandgrind.com Ill Will The Champ

To Anonymous: Well I just watched a clip where a news reporter who had been following the case stated that a lot of facts involving the “racist elements” of the case were kept out so the jury didn’t hear them. He was called a nigger during the arrest. That was kept out. Officers initiated the entire encounter with a racist remark. Mehsrle or however you spell his name had numerous citations for brutality before this incident. That was left out too. I understand our laws and I ain’t speaking on whether it should have stayed out or not. If you don’t take the stand a lot of that can’t come in. However it was definitely racially motivated. This is not a debate. Facts are facts. C’mon people. The way to stop people of color from calling out racism is to end racism; not just keep saying that something isn’t when it is.

these posts are racist

“A jury of one’s peers” does not exist in the Constitution. The 6th amendment guarantees, among other things, the right to “a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed” but not a jury trial.

This right as well other rights a criminal defendant has come from different court rulings based on (among others), the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of “equal protection of the laws.”

A just cannot deny a Defendant’s choice of having a Jury as opposed to a judge making the decision of guilt or innocence. Also, race cannot be a factor in jury selection. The process for jury selection is a complicated one but as long as the “pool” of jurors from which the opposing attornys choose the final jury from (the process is called “voir dire”) has to be from a randomly selected group from the community…and race cannot be a factor in the actual selection. Many attorneys get around this by finding “other reasons” to kick prospective jurors off…it’s a shady process.

The reason for moving the trial to another location is based on, among other things, whether or not a defendant can get a “fair trial”, ie is the “pool” of prospective jurors biased by, among other things, too much negative publicity. Often, during the voir dire process a lawyer will ask the prospective juror if she knows anything about the case. If the answer is “yes”, the juror will probably be stricken from the final jury.

Cohcran was a defense attorney. His job was to raise “doubt”…so i’m not sure what you mean by he’d be “all over this.”

Hope this helps.

jubilee shine

so im sure you also think the fact that half the jury has police in their immediate family had no bearing on the outcome either.

these posts are racist

What are you talking about? I didn’t give my opinion. I just told you how “it is”, now how it could or should be.

Worley

“Why was he even reaching for his taser, if he already had the guy down on the ground?”

Police are cowards. It was like 5 of them and all 5 of them had guns. Even if he was reaching for a gun, what are the chances he could out shoot 5 of them? Those bastards will consider it resisting unless you lay motionless and hold your breath. Anything else might get you shot… in the back.

what the fuck does america being past racism have to do with anything? how about dumbass people in general making this country not worth a fat fuck? i don’t care if you’re white or black or mexican. if you are acting like a dumbass shit’s bound to not go your way. i believe oscar grant wasn’t doing anything to deserve any of the treatment he received by the police, let alone for the situation to end up how it ended up and for that i’m sorry for his family. the cop was the stupid motherfucker who obviously wasn’t trained enough to know the difference in the weight of a loaded gun versus a taser. that’s just ignorance. ignorance and carelessness are to blame, plain and simple. i love it when folks scream racism because the person harmed was a black person and the offending person was white. you think this cop shot him intentionally because he was black? no they just abused because he was black that’s right? no, the shit happened because it was an ignorant police officer in an area heavily populated by black people. if it was a dumbass police officer in a heavily populated white area with dumb fucking white trash doing stupid shit, something bad would happen too. believe me, i’ve seen it. it’s not racist just because you want it to be. he didn’t scream out a racial slur before he fired his pistol or specifically target a group of black people to fuck with. he was working in his area and that’s who was around causing the problems. come down to the south and get in some of these trailer parks and slums and see who the cops fuck with. it’s the white trash bumpkins and they treat them like shit like they’d treat any other dumb bastard who is causing a scene. RIP to this poor soul who lost his life to ignorance but the problem here isn’t racism, it’s all the dumb motherfuckers living in this world today who are just in the way and causing problems.

jim

Thats a great rant you have there TheTruth, but I believe the biggest show of racism is the fact a cop can shoot a unarmed handcuffed black man in the back like a dog w/ no provocation whatsoever and be sentenced to manslaughter and possibly only do 2-4 years which shows you how much a black mans life is worth in AmeriKKKa

SansBeach

“All I’m saying is that, as is the case with rap music, there might be levels of nuance here that white people aren’t capable of understanding”.

So if somebody does not do or say something overtly racist that means it can’t be racsim?

hannibal

the truth is obviously a white hip hop head that gets extremely paranoid when racism is mentioned and goes into a self righteous rant so no blacks go off on his ass at a hip hop show. His very argument shows that he’s writing this from the top of a bunk bed in the suburbs and never had to face a cop in the inner city. Classic passive agressive shit. Alluding that the cop was just going after the “troublemaker” then saying rip to the Poor Soul. You love it when “people” scream racism, well we don’t love to scream it. ..Did the cop kill him cuz he was black? Um yes… Not directly, but um yes..When’s the last time a white drunk wife beater wife beating mofo was killed in the trailer park? Man I miss the era where yall were scared to poke your nose in a hip hop conversation. Now we got to deal with this convoluted wisdom from a guy watching people suffer with earphones and a telescope

http://www.bboycult.com $yk

Thus the reason many ignored that comment.

Byron Crawford is a spiteful nigga

Fuck you $yk. Go suck Byron Crawford small dick.

Anyway, dear Bitch Ass Byron:

Hey, stupid ass, write all the shit you want because I’m not gonna see it you stupid bitch. Please commit suicide and do us all a favor you rotten piece of shit. Fuck you, you dumb motherfucker. You’re a cock-eyed, small dick motherfucker. Nullus, what kind of shit is that. Stop trying to be white you self-hating NEGRO. You’re BLACK, accept that shit dumb ass. Lastly, for all the hate that you spew, I, as can you’re hundred of millions of haters, that spew just as much, if not more. Please, I pray you’re site gets shutdown and you get knocked the fuck out by Lupe Fiasco, for real.

Bye, Dumb Ass Bitch Byron

P.S. When you die, you will be going to hell, best believe that nigga. In addition, JESUS CHRIST is real you ignorant, dumb fuck. Lord, please forgive me for this profanity-laden rant.

http://www.bboycult.com $yk

Same to you.

Explain to the lord how you spew hatred at people who you have no idea of who they are and what they do because of your own views.

The good book doesn’t teach me to live like that. I thought it said to love all life and pray for those who don’t know who he is.

Be careful, you wishing for Bol’s demise may only cause yours.

BIGNAT

bol has been coming with fire lately
“Los Angeles is where Officer Nigger Hater and Officer Keep Darky Down were acquitted in the Rodney King beating, because they convinced they judge that if you look at the tape backwards, it shows them helping Rodney King up and sending him on his way.”
“Why was he even reaching for his taser, if he already had the guy down on the ground? That’s like a rapist trying to argue that he was merely attempting to show a woman his peen, and he slipped in some wet grass and it went inside of her.”
“There were like four other cops holding Oscar Grant down. All Mehserle did was kinda stand there and shoot him. He had plenty of time to realize what he was shooting him with? And what about the cops who held Oscar Grant down. You can’t just hold somebody down while somebody else shoots them.”
with all that evidence if he got off that muthafucker should buy a lottery ticket.

http://www.bboycult.com $yk

“When I saw the video of rioters in downtown Oakland, upset with the verdict in the Oscar Grant trial, looting a Foot Locker, it made me wonder…”

^ wtf are these cats doing, like they got the stock room schematics down packed to grab all the J’s in their size and sh^t…ninjas getting bagged with 1 foot display sneaks, headbands & socks…

jim

Imagine how they would of treated this murderer cop if he had shot some poor white girl in the back what the fuck kinda sentence would he get then? And why the fuck can police shoot unarmed black men dead in NY and not get in trouble?

ff1one@yahoo.com

racial profiling. racisim still alive they just be concealing it. only a non black male would say it doesn’t. all the laws that determine who goes to prision are set against the black man.

Besides that, good write. A lot more informative. idk why people riot and than go steal. my family was just talkin about a riot in nyc during a blackout and how they cleaned out a grocery store. its sad but funny.

the police have the greatest amount of power in all phases of law and that power is often abused.

Goldy

After that second paragraph, you should have wrote–(This was brought to you by the late Mr. Bill Hicks)I see from reading the comments section that people think you came up with this stuff–give credit where it’s do.

bg

blatant racism. i am appalled at the thought the jury accurately made a decision from the facts presented. america is one of the most racist countries ever.EVER

Chuck Dane

Ya, this is pretty fucked up. Obviously its impossible to know for sure what the cop was thinking before he shot him, maybe he did think it was his taser, maybe oscar grant did look like he was reaching for a gun, maybe he was getting jumpy from all the people shouting around him, but from what i’ve been able to see, there wasn’t really any cause to pull even his taser out in this situation.

That being said, I don’t necessarily believe that racism is the main culprit here. Not gonna lie, being a cop in Oakland has probably not exposed him to the finest, upstanding african americans, and maybe that has affected him. But the fact is 99% of the time if you find yourself face down in hand cuffs, be you black, white, mexican, native american, you are not completely innocent, even if its just being around criminals, or crimes being committed.

In the world, and this will probably be a fact of life for all eternity, people with power will at some point abuse, or misuse it. Whether the offender and victims of this abuse and misuse are white or black is irrelevant. More important is the fact that despite being outnumbered by whites in america, blacks account for a disproportional amount of criminal offenders in almost every category. There are 5 times more white people then black people in America (although white includes latin americans), yet black people account for more homicides then white people do, and a while not more, a disproportional amount of violent crimes.

Given these stats is it not a reasonable conclusion that it is inevitable that power will be abused, and since black people represent a large piece of offenders, and there are higher concentrations of african americans in urban areas than in rural or suburban, that just based on averages black people will be more likely to be victims of abuses.

Should he have been convicted of 2nd degree murder? Maybe. None of the videos show anything that justify’s his actions, but none of the videos are of that great of quality, and are not from ideal angles to make absolute decisions. Only one person knows what happened, and he has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

I apologize for wasting several minutes of your life.

BlackBoy

thanks for apologizing.

http://www.bboycult.com $yk

“but from what i’ve been able to see, there wasn’t really any cause to pull even his taser out in this situation.”

“maybe oscar grant did look like he was reaching for a gun”

^ ???

“Not gonna lie, being a cop in Oakland has probably not exposed him to the finest, upstanding african americans”

“But the fact is 99% of the time if you find yourself face down in hand cuffs, be you black, white, mexican, native american, you are not completely innocent”

^ ARE YOU THERE TO SAY THIS IS FACT?

“and since black people represent a large piece of offenders, and there are higher concentrations of african americans in urban areas than in rural or suburban, that just based on averages black people will be more likely to be victims of abuses”

“There are 5 times more white people then black people in America (although white includes latin americans), yet black people account for more homicides then white people do”

^ YOU CONTRADICTED EVERY POINT YOU MADE.

LATIN AMERICANS ARE NOT WHITE. LOOK AT THE IMMIGRATION LAWS. HOW DARE YOU SAY SOMEONE’S GRANDMA AIN’T A GOOD CITIZEN ‘CAUSE SHE’S BLACK. THERE HAVE BEEN INNOCENT PEOPLE KILLED BY L.E. WITH DOCUMENTED CASES NATIONWIDE. USE YOUR MOUSE MISINFORMED IDIOT.

Ayo Chuck,

I’m one of the most diplomatic cats on these XXL boards.

BUT GTFOH WITH THIS BULLSH^T. WHAT DOES THE QUALITY OF A VIDEO HAVE TO DO WITH WHAT IS BEING DONE IN THE VIDEO? THERE WERE MANY PEOPLE THERE, HOW DOES ONLY ONE PERSON KNOW WHAT EXACTLY WENT ON?

YOU’RE TRYING TO CUNNINGLY JUSTIFY GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT BECAUSE OF RACE, THEN SAY YOU DON’T BELIEVE IN RACISM.

BEAT IT, WE DON’T NEED YOU.

BoJay

I just wish that white ppl would understand that all of em hate BLACK MEN maybe not black women black children but they hate a Black man

geico lizard

RIP Oscar Grant, I hope your family gets that 25 million from the city they deserve in the lawsuit.

Anonymous

RACISM RACISM BLAH BLAH BLAH FUCKIN BLAH.The cop was wrong and should have got a stiffer punishment.Quit blamin a cop because he is white and made a mistake on racism.THERE WERE NO FACTS PRESENTED OR BROUGHT UP IN THE CASE THAT INVOLVED RACISM IN ANY WAY.RACISM WONT END UNTIL EVERY ONE WHITE BLACK OR WHAT EVER COLOR YOU ARE ABOLISH THE THOUGHTS OF IT FROM YOUR MINDS.BEFORE ITS ALL SAID AND DONT RACISM WONT BE VERY RELEVANT AT ALL, YOU WANNA KNOW WHY LOOK AT ALL THE WHITE GIRLS AND BLACK GUYS DATING AND HAVIN KIDS.White people will be the minority before long.Thank god when it happens because then every one can quit cryin about racism.Because face it there are just as many racists from other ethnic groups it aint just white people.
BESIDES THINK ABOUT IT PRISON KEEPS RACISM RELEVANT.WHEN YOU GO IN ITS ALL ABOUT STICKIN TO YOUR RACE FOR SURVIVAL.YOU WANNA STOP RACISM START WITH THE PRISON SYSTEM FIRST.

BlackBoy

No other ethnic group can be “racist”, they can only be “bigots” because they don’t have any power to oppress anyone. The most they can do is keep you off their property.

big whoop.

As long as this power structure is in place, racist shit will just keep happening, dude… We’ll eventually just get populated with a generation of folks who use your logic, who will just call it something else….

I guess that’ll be the end of “racism” ha; but it won’t go away without actually, and honestly confronting it, period.

Anonymous

This just proves what everone has been saying about bol is right,bol is racist himself or at least it is deeply rooted in his mind.Look at the ignorance this blog has brought about.Feeble accusations.Racism had nothing to do with it in this very case.It is a very sad thing that happened and very sad that a black man died at the ignorant hands of a dumb cop, but a racist act it was not

http://www.bboycult.com $yk

ANONYMOUS DUDES HAVING SOOOOOOOO MUCH TO SAY YOU WON’T LEAVE A NAME FOR REFERENCE OR DEBATE. ONCE YOU DID THAT YOU LOST CREDIBILITY.

YOU ADVOCATE THESE WAYS AND ACTIONS. ADMIT IT. THESE VIOLATORS ARE YOUR UNCLES AND BLOODLINE, YOU DON’T WANNA SEE THEM FALL OFF, THAT’S YOUR CONNECT.

Y’ALL DON’T EVEN KNOW THIS DUDE TO SAY HE NEVER LIKED OR DID LIKE ANY OTHER RACE BUT HIS OWN. THE WHOLE WORLD SAW HIM SHOOT A MAN IN HIS BACK, A COWARD ACT FOR SOMEONE WITH POWER. EASY 15 YEARS PLUS.

F^CK OUTTA HERE WITH THAT BULLSH^T MAKING EXCUSES.

these posts are racist

$yk,

Fucke these cowards, and the coward that shot that young man in the back, by his own admission, for no reason.

Anonymous

Shut the fuck up aint noboby hidin from shit behind a name,I dont usually post my name because Im lazy. I dont see you postin your real name, and for one fuck off, I aint justifying shit I said it was a sad thing in case you missed it a long with sayin he deserved to get more time than what he got, my point was every time a white guy does somethin fucked up everyone goes and yells racism even if it wasnt an act of racism….quit cryin.
Question did he state he was a racist, was there any evidence pointing to it as being a race related attack in the court? No so shut the fuck up already.

http://www.bboycult.com $yk

Anonymous says:

^ you even responded to not putting up a moniker with not putting up a moniker again, blaming laziness as an excuse but you sure responded in an emotional way and typed, which obviously doesn’t show laziness.

You don’t have the balls to back your words with a name for reference. Who should/would take you seriously?

And you speak in very harsh overtones for someone who can’t be identified. Hooray for you.

Guess dude up there is correct:

“Now we got to deal with this convoluted wisdom from a guy people watching people suffer with earphones and a telescope”

“so shut the fuck up already”

^^^

caino

Again America takes a L for this!! maybe when its a white guy getting shot like this, it might be seen as non raciest but it always seems to be a black guy, untill then, keep on Protesting, keep on marching!

l’m from across the pond in the uk and this just upsets me and again isnt surprising!

Thoughts out to his Family !! RIP !

bopteest

A lot of the bloggers here are arguing about race but the fact remains if you shoot an unarmed person who poses no threat, you deserve to go to jail no matter who you are.

Anonymous

^^^^my point exactly why does it have to be a race issue, its just stupidity no matter what color the cop was.Police brutality is out of fuckin control regardless of the reasons.

SansBeach

It does not have to be a race issue its just that whenever an unarmed man is killed by a police officer the unarmed man tends to be black and the police officer white.

So even if the guy is not racist it looks bad think about it.

Im going to play devils advocate lets say this guy is not racist it would be assumed that he is any way because of the past behavior of many police officers across the country. Is it right? No.

On the other side of the coin it is assumed that many if not most black men are criminals or dead beat fathers. Is it true no but because of the ignorant and thought less actions of a few we are all stereotyped. Is it right? No.

Too often as men are we expected to pay for the sins of our fathers!

It is what it is

Upgrade

We as a community have lost our testicular fortitude.In other words we’re punks now. There are a lot of reasons why people of color keep getting murdered and all around disrespected by the police and the government at large. For one police training is below standards. The police while in training are made to feel like they are soldiers instead of peacekeepers. Therefore they see us as the enemy right from the jump.As soon as they see u they are already looking for a reason to flex their muscle which is their badge. A get out of jail free card. Also the majority of cadets do not join the force to protect and serve anymore. They join but to enforce and gain power to control. But the most important reason these kind of things keep happening is because we let it. Another “supposedly” trained officer shoots and kills an unarmed man at point blank range while the man is face down on the ground. What do we do about the ridiculous verdict? We riot. Not by rushing the police precinct and burning it to the ground. Or by taking an officer and treating him the same way Mr. Grant was treated. No we riot by looting Footlocker. Footlocker. Are you serious? Thats why it will continue to happen all over this nation. Because we punks now. We are individually afraid of what will happen to us. Not as a community but as individuals. As long as the music is playing, the rims are spinning and we know where Lebron is going everything else cant take a back seat. There are countless videos, pictures and witnesses of police brutality all over this country. But we punks now. We refuse to actually fight fire with fire because of it. So why would the police or government change anything if there are no repercussions about it? Frederick Douglas said “Power concedes nothing without a demand”. But it seems we have no power left to demand anything. We punks now!